this girl

So, I love it when I download my pictures and shots like this are in the mix. Surprise . . . there's Gennie! She had borrowed my camera to get a few extra shots of a friend's baby shower and decided to slip this one in just for me. Love it. And I just have to brag about her for a minute. She recently was moved up a level in her reading group . . . she's now reading at a 4th grade level. And she's only in 1st. Those chapter books are flying by and every 2 or 3 days she's onto another story. We've had a few people ask if she's actually comprehending what she's reading or if she just skims the words . . . then we have her tell them all about the story she just finished and after a complete regurgitation of the story, almost word for word, they don't question her anymore. :) Along with this, they did a Words-Per-Minute test and she's reading 130 words per minute. Apparently that's really good, too -- at the end of 1st grade they are considered proficient if they can read 29 words per minute. Wow. Apparently all that trudging through those insipid baby books from the time she was born really did pay off! Who knew all those educational researchers could actually be right?! :) Bragging completed.

birthday week

So, it's that time of year again -- Kev's and my birthdays. Kev's is first and he wanted to go to the Asian bistro called Chopstix . . . we hadn't tried it yet and Oh My Gosh, soooo good. Especially the Honey Walnut Chicken. Wow. In other news, yep, it really was this gold-ish/green color in there. Kinda weird for photos but nice for ambiance:

The wait-staff brought a sundae boat and sang to him . . . in the tradition of the "Fa-ra-ra-ra-ra" scene in A Christmas Story . . . and took a picture of us for their Birthday wall. Then the presents were opened and he got Season 5 of The Office, a new watch, and my parents paid for him to go to the men's retreat with a bunch of the guys from church - which he loved and had a great time at.

Thus began my favorite week of the year . . . the week where Kev and I are the same age at the same time, before I go and get one year older again. I chose the Bitter Creek Brewery for my birthday supper and had an avocado burger . . . celebrate big, I say!

Not sure why I look crazed in this one . . . but it was a good burger. I got some scrapping mini book stuff, the Blu-Ray of the old Robin Hood movie with Errol Flynn, and a laptop desk from my parents (love 'em!). Gennie and Jo made plans to spend some of their own xmas money to take the whole family to see "Gnomeo & Juliet" this weekend (they both know that movie theater popcorn is my all-time FAVORITE junk food in the whole world and wanted to give me a special outing to go with it -- love those kids!). And Kev paid the down payment on a new camera for me -- the Canon 5D!! My dad was selling his and Kev worked out a deal for me to purchase it from him! (Later, I teased him that he had bought me an obligation for my birthday, but it's just what I wanted and needed. Love him!)

Now, birthday week is over and I am once again older than Kev (and he doesn't let me forget it)and there's only 51 weeks to go until Birthday Week 2012.....

ETA: I just realized Kev wore the same shirt for both birthdays . . . washed in between, of course . . . henceforth to be called The Birthday Shirt!

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

This kid really gets into the celebrating! She couldn't wait to get up and get dressed this morning . . . way out of character for her since it usually takes a wire team and a crow bar to remove her from bed . . . but really, who wouldn't want to rush with this fabulous hat and tie waiting?

She's definitely my kid . . . my senior year in HS I went trick or treating as the Cat in the Hat, whiskers and all. Now if only I could find that photo...... Love this girl!